Bowl Matchups

[KirkHerbstreit]

Being that Every year around this time Pitt fans like to brag about their bowl record and make fun of the Big Tens bowl record, I thought it would be interesting to see where the teams they are playing are ranked. I have even used Pitt fans favorite rankings the Sagarin ratings as of December 12th for my results.

Ohio State #12 vs Oregon # 5
Iowa #18 vs. Georgia Tech # 9
Penn State # 20 vs LSU # 10
Wisconsin #37 vs Miami #11
Northwestern # 68 vs Auburn # 25
Michigan St. #57 vs Texas Tech # 31
Minnesota #64 vs Iowa State #74

now looking at the big East

Cincy # 6 vs. Florida # 3
WVU # 27 vs. Florida st # 45
Pittsburgh #19 vs North Carolina # 30
Rutgers # 52 vs. Central Florida # 62
UCONN # 39 vs. South Carolina #34
South Florida #50 vs. #85 Northern Illinois

I think that pretty much tells the story. Not much else to say

[Goodwill]

Honestly I hope Oregon puts one on Ohio State. Hey WI beat Miami--yeah the Big Ten can't beat anyone.

[KirkHerbstreit]

Odd this hasn't gotten any replies from Pitt fans yet. Too busy lurking in the weeds hoping for a Penn State loss tomorrow I guess.

[El-Moldo]

Here's a reply: From those same December 12th Sagarin rankings you just quoted.
...Pitt is ranked 19th
...Penn State is ranked 20th
...Big East Conference is ranked 4th
...Big Ten Conference is ranked 6th

[frostlion]

What trophy do you get at the end of the season for finishing first in the Sagarin rankings?

[#1_plumber_coach]

Is there something I'm missing here? Big East is ranked higher than Big 10. OK then why, with the exception of Cincy do the Big East teams all play teams that are ranked LOWER than them and the Big 10 teams play teams ranked HIGHER than them? I'm so confused.....

[El-Moldo]

The Big Ten has certain bowl "tie-ins". That's why you have 6-6 Minnesota and Michigan State teams in the bowls anyway. They inturn get paired up by other teams. This is how the bowl committees work. There is NO seeding process like the NCAA basketball tournament. The pairings for bowls do not necessarliy have any rhyme or reason when opponents are selected. It's just the way it is.

[abpk2903]

And I brought to light in the other thread about how much better ($$$$$$$) the Big Ten tie-ins are than the Big Easy's.

[El-Moldo]

So what. That wasn't the question. It's not that the BIg Ten plays better schools. It's that the other schools have to play schools from the Big Ten. Come on. Two 6-6 teams in bowl games from the Big Ten. EVERYONE is better than them on the bowl scene. The Big Ten comes on here crying about how tough their bowl competition is. You didn't see that years ago. The Big Ten used to be tough and take on all comers. Not it's, how come we can't play teams that are "even" with us. Look, the Big Ten was 1-6 last bowl season. Maybe they should just buckle up, play the game, and hope to win. Worrying about the bowl schedules of other conferences isn't in their best interest right now. Win a few games.